Yellow Dandelions, Enchanted Stuffed Bunnies, and Little Redheads
by The Lady Arturia
Summary: Enchanted objects are common household items in the wizarding world. But have you ever wondered what it is that makes them tick? Well, little Molly Weasley II has, and she's hell-bent on finding the source of their magic. After all, there's always more than meets the eye, especially in a world filled with magic. Written for QLFC and the Around the Globe Challenge: Europe Edition.


**A/n: This is written for Round 13 of QLFC. My prompt as the captain of the Falmouth Falcons is:** ** _S1FR1 / Non-Human - Write about a sentient item from the world of Harry Potter. e.g. the Sorting Hat, the Ford Anglia, etc_** **. I've written about multiple objects.**

 **This is also written for the Around the Globe Challenge. Location: London, Path: C, Piccadilly Circus, Prompt:** ** _Write about a popular place_** **. The popular place I've chosen to write about is the Burrow.**

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 **Yellow Dandelions, Enchanted Stuffed Bunnies, and Little Redheads**

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 _"_ _The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper."_

 _―_ _W.B. Yeats_

* * *

 _Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a lonesome hill whose forests boasted of the most magical, mystical creatures to ever roam the earth. At the base of the hill was a little village. The village folk dared not enter the forest due to the ancient magic dwelling there, but they loved and respected the magical beings nonetheless. In exchange, at the beginning of every year, the creatures bestowed the villagers with small, magical balls of light. These Spirit Spheres were the souls of the beings who had passed on and would animate objects through the magic of those creatures._

 _On the other side of the hill, where the backwaters connected to the underground caves, was a little hut. In the hut lived an old witch: the guardian of the gate between the spirit and the physical realms. Although the gate had long since vanished and the physical realm had become the home for the mystical creatures, the witch continued to exist to watch over them._

 _One day, a child from the village strayed too close to the forest and was captured by the magic. Lost and afraid, she wandered through the forest, calling out to the creatures to help her. The beings, never ones to appear before humans, lest the humans get enamoured by them and lose themselves to their magic, sent a lone Spirit Sphere to act as her guide. The girl followed the sphere until she reached the witch's hut._

 _Unsure of why she had been brought there, she entered the hut, calling out to see if anyone was there. The witch, who hadn't seen a human being in centuries, lashed out with her powers, throwing the girl across the rocks. She hit her head against a boulder, and before the witch realised her mistake and could undo what she had done, it was too late. The girl had passed on._

 _The Spirit Sphere, afraid to return to its masters after its failure, possessed the corpse in an attempt to animate it, with the hope of bringing her back to life. But the girl no longer belonged in the living realm. The lamenting sphere decided that it would tie itself to the girl's soul until the day it could reunite with her._

-oOo-

"Do you think the Spirit Sphere is still here, somewhere, still wandering around?"

Her father closed the storybook and placed it on the bedside table. "Well, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" he said as he leaned over to tuck her under the blankets and kiss her on the forehead.

"But what if it is?" Molly said. "Don't you think it would be lonely, wandering, all on its own, for so many, many years?"

Her father smiled and patted her hair. "I suppose it would, wouldn't it?"

She nodded and said in a determined voice, "I'm going to find it and make sure it's never alone again."

-oOo-

"Hello," Molly said with a little curtsey. "May I speak with you for a moment, Mr Bucket?" she continued, following the bucket as it bounced along behind a mop. "You see, I'm looking for a little ball of light that gets into buckets like you and makes you move around."

She jumped out of the way as the mop swished across the wooden floor, leaving a clean streak across it.

"Maybe you can help me too, Ms Mop?" Molly asked as the mop sloshed around in the bucket before squeezing out the excess water. "You may have heard of it; it's called a Spirit Sphere. It's small and round and—well, I want to say fluffy, but I'm sure it doesn't look _exactly_ like the pictures in my book."

The bucket screeched across the floor, leaving behind a dirty trail, and the mop struck its side with a loud _clang_ —as though admonishing the bucket for ruining all of its hard work.

"Oh!" Molly exclaimed, reaching into her satchel to pull the storybook out. "I could show you, if you'd like. That might be easier, huh? Why didn't I think of that sooner?" She opened the book to a page with an image of a floating sphere that looked more like a dandelion than a ball of light. She stepped forward with the intention of letting the bucket and mop take a closer look at the picture, but the mop swooshed towards her, causing her to scramble backwards with a yelp.

"I'm sorry," Molly said as the mop swabbed away the muddy footprints Molly had left on the clean floor. "But if you could look at this for just a moment—"

She made to take another step forward, but the mop swished upside down at lightning speed, looming over her and dripping dirty soap water onto her. It then swooshed back to the bucket and resumed its work, paying Molly no heed.

"How rude," she huffed, crossing her arms and stamping her foot. And here she'd been nothing but nice to the bucket and mop.

"I'll just find someone else to help me, then," she said, spinning on her heel. "And when I do, it'll be no thanks to you!" she called over her shoulder as she walked away. As she did, she could've sworn that the mop made a rather rude gesture back at her.

-oOo-

"Mhm, mhm, I see," Molly said—in a rather perfect imitation of her aunt Ginny—as she scribbled across her little notepad with her blue quill. "And you last saw it when?"

The white pawn turned towards her and, taking advantage of its momentary distraction, the nearby black pawn pulled out its swords and shattered the white one. Molly gasped in shock. "That wasn't very nice of you!" she scolded the black pawn. "He was just about to tell me something very important!"

Meanwhile, the white knight moved across the board and, before Molly could say another word, shattered the black pawn with its mace.

"No!" Molly exclaimed with a gasp. "You're mean, the whole lot of you!"

The remaining white castle was making its way across the board when Molly decided that she was going to force them to answer her and flipped the board upside down. The chess pieces clattered to the floor, and Molly picked up one of the white pawns.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she gently stroked it. "You were telling me about the Spirit Sphere, remember? Do you remember when you last saw it?"

The light from the fireplace flickered across the pawn's smooth surface, and Molly believed that it was trying to tell her something. Before she could decode its response, however, the door opened, and in strode her father. He took one look at his upturned chess set and glared at Molly.

"Did you do this?" he asked as he waved his wand, putting all the pieces back in place, including the pawn in her hand.

"Wait, Daddy, you don't understand—"

"Oh, I understand _perfectly,_ young lady. Go to your room!"

Molly stuck her lower lip out in a pout, hoping her father would give in. He simply pursed his lips and pointed to the door. Head hanging, Molly stalked out, sad that she had angered her father and hadn't managed to get any information in the process.

-oOo-

Molly remained perfectly still as she eyed her unsuspecting prey, waiting for the moment when she could strike. The chocolate frog cocked its head, eyeing a piece of food lying on the carpet, unaware of the danger to its life. Molly crawled forwards and stretched her hand out from under the table, ready to grab the little creature that had jumped out of the box when she had tried to talk to it.

The frog, still not having noticed Molly, hopped closer to the piece of food. Her frustration mounting, Molly stretched further, but just as her fingers were about to close around the frog, someone ran around the table, promptly tripping over her outstretched arm and falling to the floor.

"Oh my goodness! Louis, darling, are you alright?" she heard her mother say. Molly quickly darted out from under the table and jumped over her cousin. "Molly!" her mother yelled after her, and Molly called a hasty apology over her shoulder as she raced after the escaping frog.

"Come back here!" Molly called as she chased it around the room. "Catch it, Uncle George!" she exclaimed when the frog hopped towards the window. Her uncle reacted in a split-second and grabbed it just as it was about to hop up onto the ledge.

"And he saves the day once again with his lightning-quick reflexes!" her uncle said in a Quidditch commentator's voice as he held his clasped hands out.

"Thank you!" Molly said as she carefully took the frog from him and made her way to the kitchen. Placing it in a glass bowl, she covered the top with a plate and eyed the frog as it bounced around inside.

"Now, Mr Frog," she said, wagging a finger. "If you promise to be good and answer my questions, I'll let you go." She pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and held it up to reveal a drawing of a yellow ball. "Have you seen this Spirit Sphere before?"

She placed her elbows on the table and propped her chin on her arm as she stared at the frog, which continued to hop around inside the container without paying her any heed. "Listen here, frog," she said, trying to imitate Uncle Ron's impression of Uncle Harry, "you better spill the beans now, or else!"

Someone reached over her head and picked the plate up off the bowl, releasing the frog into the wild. Molly jerked upright, mouth hanging open as she watched the frog disappear out the door.

"Serves you right!" Louis said, smacking her atop the head before running away.

 _"_ _Loouuuiiisss!"_ Molly shrieked as she raced after her cousin, intent on punishing him for setting free her latest lead to finding the Spirit Sphere.

-oOo-

Molly stood with her arms crossed as she stared at the weathered hat in the showcase. Her father had told her it was a "replicle" of the Hogwarts Sorting Hat and that he had even succeeded in enchanting it to speak—although, apparently, its voice was far more high-pitched than the original.

"Can you hear me, Mr Hat?" Molly asked, getting on her toes and knocking on the glass gently. "I'm Molly, and I would like to ask you some questions," she said, adding, "if you don't mind," to sound polite.

She thought that the hat wouldn't respond, but after a moment, it very slowly tipped forward. "What do you want, little girl?" it asked her in a voice that reminded her of her aunt Fleur.

"Well," Molly began, holding up her storybook. "Have you seen this Spirit Sphere before?"

The hat seemed to think for a long moment before saying, "Spirit what now?"

Molly held the book up higher. "It's yellow and round and—according to the pictures in my book—sort of furry. Like a dandelion."

"Can't say I have. But I've heard you can see quite a lot of those in the meadows in the summer."

"No, no," Molly said, shaking her head. "This is a Spirit Sphere, not a dandelion!"

"What's a Spirit Sphere?"

"This, this," Molly said, tapping the picture. "Can you see?"

"See?" the hat scoffed. "I'm a hat, girl. Can hats see? Silly child."

Molly glowered at the hat. "Well, hats can't speak, either, but you seem to be doing that just fine."

"What do you mean hats can't speak?" it asked her, seemingly having forgotten the purpose of her speaking to it in the first place.

"Of course they don't," Molly said, tucking her book under her arm. "Ever seen a talking hat besides yourself before?"

"I say, if I could see, we wouldn't even be having this conversation, now, would we?"

"Why not?" Molly, ever one to be easily distracted, asked.

"My God, girl, have you got much for brains?"

"How rude!" Molly exclaimed, stamping her foot. "You are a very rude hat!"

"And you are a very foolish little girl, so there!"

"I don't want to talk to you anymore!" Molly huffed, turning away. "You're a mean, mean hat!"

"Are you leaving? Do tell your father to take me off this dusty rack, won't you? I think the reason I can't see is because of all this rubbish in my eyes."

"Goodbye!" Molly called, shutting the door to her father's old room in the Burrow. She pulled out her notepad from her satchel and struck out the hat from the list with a sigh. It seemed like she really was running out of luck with finding the Spirit Sphere.

-oOo-

Molly and her cousins watched with delight as her aunt Hermione enchanted Molly's stuffed rabbit so it would hop around and pretend to nibble on its little stuffed carrot.

"Why didn't you ever make _my_ stuffed animals move?" Roxanne asked her parents with a frown as Aunt Hermione handed Molly the rabbit.

"Bunny! Bunny!" Rose said, hopping around with her hands held on top of her head like bunny ears. Lucy followed behind, and the two girls hopped around their laughing parents.

Molly rolled her eyes at their childish antics and placed the stuffed rabbit on the grass. It immediately began hopping away from her, and she said, "Oh, no you don't," as she crawled after it, grimacing as a wet piece of mud stuck to her palms.

"Molly darling, don't get too close to the edge," her mother called from the large picnic table.

"'Kay," Molly called back. She watched the rabbit hop a little further before she lunged to grab hold of it. Staring at it, she wondered if there was even the slightest possibility that the newly animated bunny would have any idea about the Spirit Sphere.

"Well, what's there to lose?" she thought aloud as she sat down and placed the bunny on the grass before her. "Hello there, Mr Rabbit. My name's Molly. Have you by any chance seen a Spirit Sphere that looks like a yellow dandelion before?"

The bunny just stared at her with its beady eyes, unmoving. Molly sighed. _Of course it wouldn't know about the Spirit Sphere_ , she thought morosely to herself. If none of the other, older objects knew about it, why would this little stuffed bunny?

She got so lost in her day dreams of finally finding the Spirit Sphere one day and becoming its friend that she didn't notice the little rabbit hopping away from her until it was too close to the edge.

"Mr Rabbit!" she yelled, quickly rising to her feet. "That's dangerous; come back!"

She rushed forwards to grab the rabbit, and just as she picked it up, a powerful gust of wind blew past, making her skirt rustle and her hair cover her face. As she pushed it out of her eyes and mouth, she saw little white balls of fluff rise into the air. With a gasp, she made her way to the edge and peered down, staring, wide-eyed, as the dandelions were carried away by the wind.

"Molly!" her father called, and she looked over her shoulder to see him jog over to her. "Didn't Mummy just say not to get so close to the edge?"

"Daddy, look!" she exclaimed as he picked her up and propped her on his hip. "Look!" she said again, waving her hand as she pointed at the floating dandelions. "So many Spirit Spheres!"

"That's lovely," her father said with a smile, and they stood watching the dandelions for a moment, drinking in the beautiful sight. Her mother called to them, telling them that lunch was ready, and her father turned around, carrying her back.

She peered over his shoulder, transfixed, and as she watched, a single, yellow ball of fluff fluttered over to her. She watched as it circled the bunny for a moment and then disappeared into it, as though the stuffed toy had swallowed it up. A moment later, the rabbit blinked and pretend-nibbled at its carrot, making Molly gasp.

"Mr Rabbit," she whispered when her father set her down. "You knew exactly where to find the Spirit Sphere after all, didn't you?"

"Mine!" Rose said, tugging at Molly's dress and pointing at the toy.

"It's _mine_ ," Molly replied, holding the stuffed animal out of the little girl's reach. Rose pouted, teary-eyed, and Molly reluctantly handed the bunny to the three-year-old, not wanting her to throw a tantrum and get Molly into trouble.

As Rose ran back to her parents to show them the bunny, Molly turned to watch as the white specks fluttered away, startled when Rose cried out.

"Molly, catch that runaway rabbit!" her uncle Ron called, and Molly turned to see that the stuffed bunny was hopping away from Rose and towards Molly instead.

Molly waited until it neared her and picked it up off the grass, grinning down at it as she held it in her hands. "Hello again, Mr Rabbit," she said. "Missed me already?"

The rabbit only nibbled on its carrot in reply, a speck of gold glittering in its beady eyes.

-oOo-

 _"_ _I hope_ — _I hope," the witch said to the sphere, "that one day you will find the little girl again."_

 _'_ _I will,' the sphere promised, taking one final glance at the child's pale, lifeless form. 'And this time, I won't let her go.'_


End file.
